Top News Stories For Today – Nov 2, 2017

NYC attacker was inspired by ISIS

Sayfullo Saipov, the man accused of killing eight people in this week’s terror attack in New York, is reportedly talking to authorities. He allegedly “felt good about what he had done” and had been planning the attack for a year.

Saipov told investigators he was inspired by ISIS videos, and investigators found 90 videos and 3,800 images that appeared to be ISIS-related propaganda on one of his cell phones, the complaint says.

Saipov was charged with federal terrorism offenses in Tuesday’s attack, but President Donald Trump tweeted that he should “GET DEATH PENALTY.” Trump also vowed to terminate the visa lottery program that help bring Saipov to the United States and branded the justice system a “laughingstock.” CNN

Suu Kyi visits conflict-torn area of Rakhine state

Aung San Suu Kyi visited the conflict-torn area of northern Rakhine state for the first time Thursday, as her government said a repatriation plan for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who’ve fled violence there is underway. She arrived in the state capital Sittwe and headed to restive northern Rakhine where many Rohingya villages were located. During a 2015 election campaign, she visited southern Rakhine, where there hasn’t been much conflict.

Aung San Suu Kyi spokesman Zaw Htay would not release her plans for the trip until later because of security concerns. VOA

Russia’s Facebook ads released

The House Intelligence Committee released a small sample of the 3,000 ads a Russian troll farm purchased on Facebook during the 2016 US presidential election. They focused on divisive issues such as immigration, religion and race, and some mentioned Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders by name.

Some of the ads were sophisticated attempts to appeal to certain interest groups or races. Others pushed false missions, such as a petition to remove Clinton from the ballot or an ad claiming you could vote via Twitter. A few were just downright bizarre, such as an image of Satan and Jesus arm-wrestling for the country’s future. Really. CNN

N Korea is working on missile that can reach US

North Korea is working on an advanced version of an existing missile that could reach the US, CNN reports. Citing a US official, the report said Pyongyang is improving its current KN-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, just a few months after it launched its first ICBM. Several US officials familiar with the matter said the work is just one small part of Kim Jong Un’s efforts to rapidly improve the country’s missile program.

Pyongyang’s nuclear fuel, missile launchers, and guidance and targeting systems are also undergoing improvements, according to the report. Those improvements include solid rocket fuel with more stability to help missiles achieve greater distances, improved rocket motors and engine components, and improved targeting and guidance systems, according to CNN. The Daily Beast

CIA released files related to Bin Laden raid

The CIA has released a huge collection of files connected with the 2011 raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden. This newly released info includes the al Qaeda founder’s personal journal. CIA Director Mike Pompeo said the release “provides the opportunity for the American people to gain further insights into the plans and workings of this terrorist organization.”

However, it also provides some unexpected insight into the bin Laden family’s viewing tastes. The CIA has withheld some material on the grounds of security or copyright, including family movies such as “Cars,” “Chicken Little” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” as well as the documentaries “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?” and “CNN Presents: World’s Most Wanted.” CNN

Obama returns to community service

Former US President Barack Obama gathered artists, world leaders and business owners to help inspire young people from around the world at the inaugural leadership summit held by the Obama Foundation. More than 500 young people from 60 nations and 27 US states were picked to attend the summit, from thousands of applications and nominations, on merit of leadership and problem solving.

Among those who spoke at the summit were Britain’s Prince Harry, former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, Chance the Rapper and Michelle Obama. VOA

Russia hackers had targets worldwide

The hackers who upset the US presidential election had ambitions well beyond Hillary Clinton’s campaign, targeting the emails of Ukrainian officers, Russian opposition figures, US defense contractors and thousands of others of interest to the Kremlin, according to a previously unpublished digital hit list obtained by The Associated Press.

The list provides the most detailed forensic evidence yet of the close alignment between the hackers and the Russian government, exposing an operation that stretched back years and tried to break into the inboxes of 4,700 Gmail users across the globe – from the pope’s representative in Kiev to the punk band Pussy Riot in Moscow. Most of the identified targets were in the United States, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Syria. The AP also found a handful of Republican targets. VOA